Obviously, this calls for a reader contest: Grade Rick Santorum’s paper! Read the full essay, give it a grade (“A” through “F”), and explain your reasoning. Subscribers can write below in the comments section; all others, share your thoughts at [email protected]. Later this week, we’ll publish the best demonstrations of poli-sci pedagogy.

Professor O’Connor’s assessment of the paper appears after the jump. Cheating will result in zero credit!

Bob O’Connor says he can’t be completely sure how he scored the paper. But, noting that Santorum and his partner put a lot of work into the essay—interviewing almost three-dozen Pennsylvania lawmakers, staffers, and political operatives—and that he was so impressed he circulated parts of the paper to local lawmakers, O’Connor’s pretty confident that Santorum secured an “A.”